The Los Angeles Lakers have struck fresh ground in their pursuit of rock bottom, losing to a Trail Blazers team that has spent the last two days trading away its biggest stars not named Damian Lillard, who is out with an abdominal injury.
The loss was absolutely dreadful, as the Lakers, with a healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis, were unable to overcome Anfernee Simons, Jusuf Nurkic, and 43 minutes of CJ Elleby. The end of the game featured Simons hitting some big shots, followed by quite possibly the worst execution by two teams in the final minute of a close game we’ll see all season.
ANFERTHREE pic.twitter.com/GTlVy1UX9o
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 10, 2022
LAKERS DONT FOUL BLAZERS LAUNCH A THREE THIS IS THE WORST BEST GAME I HAVE EVER SEEN pic.twitter.com/yrZ8c03aHs
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) February 10, 2022
After all of that, the Lakers ended up losing 107-105 in what certainly felt like their worst loss of the season — a rather high bar to clear — and the immediate response afterwards from the most loyal former Lakers was one of sheer disgust. Magic Johnson, who is capable of seeing the glass half full in almost any situation, found himself speechless at the Lakers losing that game with maybe the saddest tweet he’s ever sent.
After the @Lakers loss to Portland tonight, I'm speechless. No words can describe how I'm feeling.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) February 10, 2022
On the Lakers postgame show, James Worthy was likewise at a loss for words, calling it the lowest point he can remember in his time as a Laker, noting that this Blazers team was basically a pickup team after all the trades they’ve made and very few of those players they got in return available to play on Thursday night.
James Worthy is lost for words. pic.twitter.com/rFW3J2JtHR
— Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta) February 10, 2022
It really was something to behold, as the Lakers just could not find it in them to pull away from the rag-tag Blazer squad, and as shots started falling for Portland in the second half, they began to believe they could get the win and managed to finish off L.A. despite a wild ending.
Now the Lakers head into Thursday’s trade deadline with vibes about as low as they can be after losing to that Portland roster with Russell Westbrook on the sidelines, which won’t help smooth over his frustrations that he’s been scapegoated for L.A.’s struggles this season. Something has to change for the Lakers and it’ll be fascinating to see what they end up doing between now and 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, because there aren’t a lot of obvious answers for a team with a ton of questions.
